Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD)

Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) project has been selected to receive a $55 million grant from NASA’s Explorers program for flight as a mission of opportunity. The Principal Investigator, who will lead the mission, is Dr. Richard Eastes.

Change in O/N2 Composition

Sophisticated upper atmospheric models will be compared to GOLD data.

GOLD will fly an ultraviolet (UV) imaging spectrograph on a geostationary satellite to measure densities and temperatures in Earth’s thermosphere and ionosphere. The goal of the investigation is to address an overarching question in heliophysics science: What is the global-scale response of the thermosphere and ionosphere to forcing in the integrated Sun-Earth system?

Measurements from GOLD will be used, in conjunction with sophisticated models of the terrestrial thermosphere and ionosphere, to revolutionize our understanding of the space environment.